Ok... I have all day tomorrow (WOOHOO!) to sand as much as possible... The guy before me started sanding the bottom of the hulls (bottom paint area). And I want to completely sand it all and repaint it and coat it... Any Suggestions or anyone know of a previous post on this... And how long can I leave it bare fiberglass? Should I cover it and should I remove the hulls from the tramp? Or is this a bad idea all together? lol I can post pics if anyone would like... There are no soft spots that I have found yet, but minor damage that i can filled.

_________________An Old Hobie 14... Not A Clue To The Year... Needs Extensive Work...

Mine was painted with some really crappy paint when i got it. after weeks and weeks and countless $$$ on sand paper I finally found a product called citrustrip. It is an orange based paint striper that won't effect the fiberglass. It allowed me to remove the paint down to the gelcoat and made it much easier to get the job done.

I'll keep that in mind. My days off are split thru the week so I don't have 2 in a row. Will leaving the hulls sanded to bare fiberglass do significant damage to it do to the weather? I'm going to cover them up with tarps anyways.

_________________An Old Hobie 14... Not A Clue To The Year... Needs Extensive Work...

hit up on the corner castings with a rubber mallet. You dont have a whole lot of room to swing but usually enough to get them moving. DO NOT USE A STEEL HAMMER. the castings are soft and you can ruin them in one blow.

Is your tramp still on the frame? if so loosen or remove the tramp and lift up on the bows seperatly. this might give you enough twist to loosen things up. or at least help work the PB blaster in.

So I should loosen the tramp and hopefully that will do something to help me out... And I have been hitting it with a rubber mallet and a dead blow a few times... Didn't feel safe using that. Well one of the castings are already cracked all the way up it. A nice sized crack too. That way when I got it.

P.S. The Original color scheme was Blue hull deck and white bottoms with a white canvas tramp. Maybe this will help narrow down what year it is if anyone has a clue.

_________________An Old Hobie 14... Not A Clue To The Year... Needs Extensive Work...

You definitely want to loosen, or possibly even completely remove the tramp before trying to remove the corner castings from the pylons. On a 40 something year old boat, there is a high likelyhood that the castings will be stubborn, especially if the boat was used in salt water. If there's corrosion between the casting and pylon, the two are likely to be frozen together (possibly permanently).

They are frozen together. Decided to get the roto grinder out and cut them off carefully.

Sounds like a bit of a waste of time and money if you ask me. If all you're trying to do is sand and re-paint the hulls, there's really no need to remove the frame. Just take the tramp off, mask off the aluminum parts, and flip it over.

The other option would be to drill out the rivets that hold the front and rear crossbar in place, remove the nuts for the dolphin striker, and then remove the front & rear crossbar. The corner castings and side bars would still be attached to each hull, but you would be able to work on each hull independently.